[NWPT48]Court is back in session, and the Democrats are expected to rest their case by noon. Yeah, I know… I wrote the exact same thing yesterday… but this time I mean it. Really. If you don’t believe me, check out the latest trial update from David Postman in The Seattle Times.
And speaking of Postman
I found this little comment in Postman’s first update of the day, particularly telling:
The courtroom crowd is as sparse as it’s been. No final day surge in attendance, except for a small increase in the press section.
I’m sure a few more people will wander into the courtroom this afternoon for the closing arguments, but the drop in attendance is indicative of the fact that after the Republicans failed to present any evidence of fraud or ballot stuffing, few now expect the trial to produce anything dramatic… you know, like setting aside the election.
Courtroom fireworks! (9:55 am)
Hah-hah… made you look! Actually, all they’re doing right now is admitting evidence. To give you an idea how boring this entire case is, they are up to exhibit number 12,013.
Apparently, when they’re done with this, the Republicans have a couple more rebuttal witnesses. Closing arguments are scheduled for after lunch.
Damn. Postman scoops me (11:42 am)
One of the “rebuttal witnesses” didn’t go so well for Dino Rossi. But since David Postman already reported everything I was going to report, I might as well just blockquote his update:
Deputy state elections director John Pearson, on the stand as a rebuttal witness for Republicans, said that Republican allegations of election fraud and wrongdoing upset members of the “election community” in the state, including himself.
“I certainly shared the frustration and frankly the anger,” Pearson said.
Pearson said specifically that he, as a former military voter, objected to Republican claims that military ballots were not being sent to overseas voters because he knew that was false.
He also cited Republican claims that ballot accounting problems indicated fraud, saying, “We knew there were good reasons why those numbers did not balance.”
‘Nuff said.
Short lunch break (12:15 pm)
Court has recessed until 1:00 pm, half the usual allotted time. Judge Bridges has stated that they would definitely get to closing statements today.
It is interesting to note that contrary to his pattern of the past two weeks, Judge Bridges has routinely sustained Democratic objections during the GOP’s questioning of their rebuttal witnesses. This could be because he’s just getting testy with the Republicans… or it could be that seeing as lenient as he has been, the GOP attorneys have been pushing their luck.
It kind of makes sense for the press to testify (1:27 pm)
Democratic attorney Hamilton has threatened to call David Postman to stand. Man this is getting meta.
Vance, lies and video tape (1:38 pm)
The Democrats just introduced a video of GOPolitburo Chair Chris Vance, in which he vouched for the integrity of elections in King County and Washington state. The tape was from a November 9, 2004 interview on TVW, in which Vance touted his intimate knowledge of KC Elections, having twice served on the canvassing board while a council member. On the subject of election fraud, Vance definitively states:
“I know that there is no fraud going on, nothing nefarious in Washington state. […] I’ve been as close to it as you can be, and there is no truth to it, at least not here.”
This statement of support was made at a time when it looked like Dino Rossi would win by about three thousand votes. Of course, once it became apparent that Christine Gregoire won, his opinion changed.
John Carlson at 3:15 (2:30 pm)
The GOP finished there rebuttal (finally,) and the court has recessed for 10 minutes. When we come back, closing arguments will commence. Of course, I’ll probably miss a chunk of the closing arguments, while I’m arguing with Stefan on the John Carlson Show, KVI-570, at 3:15.
It’s almost over (2:58 pm)
Closing arguments are underway. Republican attorney Harry Korrell sounds much more subdued in his closing than Dale Foreman was in his opener. He expects to go about 30 minutes.
KVI is covering the arguments live, so Stefan and I won’t be coming on the Carlson Show until after they’ve finished… I’m guessing closer to 5 pm.
Republicans close (3:28 pm)
The Republicans have finished their closing arguments.
I know I’m biased (hey… I’ve always been up front about that,) but I found Korrell’s summation to be disappointing in both form, content and delivery. To borrow Stefan’s paraphrasing schtick: “It’s all King County’s fault… it’s unfair to the rest of the state… and if you don’t set this election aside King County will never mend their ways.”
The GOP has always argued that with more errors than the margin of victory, the court is compelled to set aside the election… which I suppose might be a good argument if the Judge hasn’t repeatedly disagreed with them on this point of law. One of the more curious arguments is that surely, the legislature couldn’t have intended to allow an election like this stand… yet they’ve never gone back to the history of the statutes to argue legislative intent. I can only assume that is because the record wouldn’t support their interpretation.
Jenny Durkan is now giving the Democrats closing arguments.
If I need a lawyer, I’m hiring Jenny Durkan (4:13 pm)
She was great in cross-exam, and she’s great in summation. Yes, I’m biased, but she is in the process of tearing apart the Republican case. She makes Harry Korrell look like an amateur.
The most noticeable difference is that Durkan has spent much more time addressing both statute and case law (not to mention logic.) This is because both statute and case law — as well as Judge Bridges’ previous rulings — support the Democrats’ arguments. Korrell on the other hand, spent much of his time rehashing the litany of errors and illegal votes, adding little analysis to the evidence already admitted.
More later…
Secretary of State refuses to take sides (5:18 pm)
Arguing on behalf of the Secretary of State, attorney Thomas Ahearne refused to take sides and recommend a ruling to the court. However, much to the dismay of the Korrell, he did take issue with many of the Republicans’ mischaracterizations of the election, including the issues of military ballots, duplication and enhancement, and ballot security.
Here’s all you need to know….There’s 1000% more evidence that election fraud took place in Florida in 2000 and in Ohio in 2004 than there is it took place in the Governor’s election. If the GOP were to allow the same standard of proof in the Florida case and the Ohio case, well….
1) America wouldn’t be the most hated nation on Earth
2) We wouldn’t be at war in Iraq and tens of thousands of innocent people wouldn’t be dead and Saddam would be confined to an area the size of Delaware
3) America wouldn’t be any more or less safe from terrorism
4) We wouldn’t have the largest trade and budget deficits in history
5) We wouldn’t have a bunch of crooked oil men stealing the taxpayers blind
6) Our environment wouldn’t be under attack
7) Women wouldn’t have to worry about the GOP telling them what they can and can’t do with their bodies
8) We wouldn’t have our very own taliban sect controlling the government
9) Big business would have to actually care about the way it does business
10) We would have a jobs market that actually created wealth for workers not their bosses
11) We would have an education system that taught fact not religion
12) We wouldn’t spend more money on prisons than health care
I can agree Bush is bad (really) but your facts are wrong (on the 00 an d04 elections) and you lose me beginning w/ item 5.
You guys now using Taliban as code for Nazis, Christians, whatever group you don’t like?
Scott@1
How can you people keep trying to beat the dead horse? There was NO tampering or fraud in Florida. You must be one of those guys that think Jeb went precinct by precinct and added votes with help from the tooth fairy….
Scott
…just like there was no fruad/tampering here. Funny how the GOP cries when the tables are turned.
This has been a huge distraction for everybody. The Republicans have forced the Democrats to waste millions of dollars that could have been used more productively. I am sure that was one of their main goals. After all, they can get all the money they want from the BIAA and others, while we need all our money to take back Congress.
I know that some bloggers, you and Stefan in particular, have prosperred because of this trial, but obviously you and I would rather be talking about more important things, like taking this country back from the brink for example.
Not that this is about to end anytime soon, but if Judge Bridges rules against the Republicans, which seems obvious, than hopefully the State Supreme Court can dispose of the appeal in a timely fashion, and we can all move on to more important things.
David T.
Well said ,Scott!
Wellsaid,David T.
And in other news, the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals has ruled on it’s WTO findings. “Given the breakdown of public order that confronted Seattle, we decline to hold unconstitutional the city’s implementation of procedures necessary to restore safety and security to its residents and to the visiting world leaders,” Judge Ronald Gould wrote in the majority opinion.
But the court also unanimously reversed a lower-court decision that had tossed out claims of constitutional rights violations by five individuals. That lower-court ruling also prevented potentially hundreds of others from being filed.
Instead, the ruling ordered the U.S. District Court in Seattle to hold a trial to determine if police used the no-protest zone as a way to discriminate against certain people with anti-WTO sentiments — actions that, if proven, would be unconstitutional, the court said.
Looks like there is hope for our freedom after all!
http://seattlepi.nwsource.com/.....wto03.html
Righton @ 2 Terrific post but you lost me right after “I can agree Bush is bad (really)…”
Quote of the century for the “trial of the century”
Lawyers said they support claims that election errors happened everywhere, not just in Democrat-leaning King County where the GOP has concentrated its attack.
One exhibit was a thank-you card from President Bush to a felon who voted in the 2004 election. The evidence is designed to show that not all felons vote Democrat.
Gee…Stefan keeps claiming that FELONS ONLY VOTE FOR DEMS…But I guess FELONS who donate to Republicans wouldn’t be considered a Felon in his eyes?
I just love seeing the Republican’s getting some of their own medicine thrown back in their faces. Get over it you Republican whiners. Quit whining about the election. It’s over!! Get beyond it, move on…
Ha ha ha! The Thugs tried to introduce a 1992 case in Lincoln county, where someone in the Sec of State’s office agreed with the Superior Court judge that there should be a “revote.” Man, Foreman tried his sleazy best to get that exhibit entered and the case discussed as a basis for throwing out this certified gubernatorial election. Ha ha ha! Desperation sets in!
Judge Bridges would not allow any of it, except as a whimsical curiosity exhibit with no merit.
Ha ha ha ha!
This is why the Dems need a better PR department. All of the hyprocritical things the GOP has said should have been put in front of the public a long time ago.
Goldy, while you wallow in KVI land with the Minnow, make sure you hit on Vance and the GOP’s previous statements of no fraud over and over. I’m going to surf on over to Unsound, I bet they don’t have anything there on this.
The GOP has done bad enough with their case, but their rebuttal has blown up in their face.
From David Postman’s Trial Notes:
So, having never provided any evidence of fraud, having dismissed the fraud line of attack, he comes back to it nevertheless in his closing remarks, with “fraud is real”. Really? Pornography is real, lying politicians are real, death is real. Talk about beating a dead horse to death.
Then he ends with “some people do steal”. Yes, and some politicians are honest, and some humans are homosexuals.
So, to sum up the GOP case, “fraud happens, and some people steal, so you have to throw out the results of this election.”
What complete and utter nonsense.
My favorite part of Postman’s latest update, per Jenny Durkan:
…there is no evidence that a single illegal vote was ever cast for Gov. Christine Gregoire.
Lots of allegations, lots of numbers thrown up to see if anything sticks, but no evidence. The only evidence before the court of how illegal votes were cast came from Democrats – 4/5 voted for Rossi, 1 for Bennett.
Durkan is giving a great close, and I’m not just saying that because she used one of my favorite lines from Macbeth tht I use in close all of time.
It will be interesting to hear the rebuttal. But Durkan hit everythign she needed to do, that the GOP was doing only a PR campaign, that they did not prove what they said that they would, and they did not even come close to meeting the standards they had to reach.
That sucking noise you hear are the wingnuts hopes and dreams going down with nothing but a stain on the porcelain.
JDB–
Keep trying to convince yourself of that pal…..
You will be the first one screaming foul come Monday!
Jenny Durkan was as horrible as the Dems case.
She was not “clear and concise”….rambling on & on & on & ONNNN!
Goldy, you couldn’t AFFORD to hire Durkan as your attorney at $450/hr…..as disjointed, incoherent and irrelevant as her babblings are.
The Dems ONLY hope here is that the Judge either feels sorry for you sorry SOB’s or
for you sorry SOB’s or is familiar with the law of the State of Washington.
Disjointed, incoherent babbling by Mr. Cynical completed by wes.in.wa — 6/3/05 @ 7:34 pm
Postman is a Liberal leaning not so center “repoter”, I use that term extremely loosely. If you listened to every bit of donkey dhiareah that comes out of his mouth you’d think that black clouds follow republicans 24/7, and cute little bunnies follow Liberals everywhere and rainbows hang like halos above their heads.
Here is the skinny on Postman, He is a tool of the left that loves to preach to the chior and indoctrinates others as an added bonus. He is the sickest of all forms of journalists and should be in the columnist/ opinion section if not be out on his butt.
19…slight tweak.
He’s a liberal tool/wonk/posterboy, but unfortunately he isn’t stupid. I don’t think he’s sick. But I may be jaded cuz next to Connnely or Balter or other nutjobs, he looks good.
and you darn sure woulndt want Ahearne as your attorny. What a waste of money we go there.
No accounting at all for ballots and he/SOS are afraid to say so.
Postman’s not that bad…mediocre at best.
although he failed to investigate WHO requested that Corky Mattingly and Terwilliger draft that ridiculous Dean Logan blind-faith “letter of support”. Postman would not even ask Mattingly who requested that letter be drafted.
Sometimes reporters should be criticized not just for what they say but what they fail to say.
Does anyone think this Wenatchee trial, to perhaps be concluded Monday when Judge Bridges renders a verdict, opinion or whatever means it’s OVER? This will probably go all the way to the US Supreme Court. The fat lady hasn’t even been called yet.
It is totally safe to say the we sure had a flock of idiots, nicompoops, mornons, etc handling the King County potion of the election? Was their fraud? I sure don’t know. But, the stench of absolute incompentence cannot be ignored.
Pardon my numerous typos, my panties must have been in a bunch.
Mr.Cynical, babe, don’t hate. You got your lunch handed to you fair and square. Heck, even John Carlson thinks you lost.
The GOP had to show by clear and convincing evidence that illegal votes changed the election. Instead the GOP went on a wild goose chase over fraud that didn’t exist because it made good PR and because they didn’t have a case. Their rebuttal was a laughing stock that let all their hypocricies show. And you know you lost when you spend your rebuttal talking about claims so weak you dropped them from your case. The judge is not going to like the grandstanding in his courtroom.
You did good on PR, I’ll give you that. But, heck, even Carlson wouldn’t touch this one today, he knew they lost it, and that they were being exposed.
Unless the judge reverses himself on a ton of decisions, or likes chaos, this one is all but over except for washing the stain of Dale Foreman off.
How many stages of denial will Stefan and Carlson make it through Monday before the show ends?
righton@2:
I can agree Bush is bad (really) but your facts are wrong (on the 00 an d04 elections) and you lose me beginning w/ item 5.
Enron/Ca Energy ripoff etc.
Hope that helps.
Which GOP idiot lawyer put Pearson on the stand? You NEVER put a witness on the stand if you don’t know what the witness is going to say. Cripes, even first-year law students — hell, even first-WEEK law students — know that.
Goldy, we don’t do much legislative-history stuff in our courts. That’s much more common with federal statutes. Legislative history is used as an interpretive tool to figure out what Congress intended. Washington courts don’t like it very much and prefer the approach of inferring legislative intent from the language of the statute itself. Also, Washington does not maintain much of anything in the way of legislative-history materials, so there’s a paucity of material to work with.
Lessee … last item … the reason Bridges is sustaining Democratic objectives now and pushing everybody to finish this thing up today is because his next case is a murder trial and he’s determined that trial WILL start on schedule. John Carlson knows how this works — when you’re out of time, you’re out of time, and he’ll cut you off in mid-sentence so the commercial break can start at the exact second it’s supposed to.
Comment on 13
You forgot to mention that human error is real, too.
@19, here we go, the righties are attacking Postman for reporting objectively, the judge is next …
Duane @ 23
The SCOTUS will refuse to take the case. They’ll say it’s a state matter. Doesn’t involve a federal office, so no federal issue.
@15
That giant sucking sound you hear is Stefan taking a deep breath.